Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a dry, sugar-free instant pudding mix which is adapted for rehydration with skim milk or low-fat milk to produce sugar-free, no/low-fat puddings.
In traditional cooked-starch puddings, a mixture of starch, sugar, liquid medium and various flavoring ingredients is heated at boiling temperature for a time sufficient for the starch granules to undergo progressively increasing stages of water absorption, swelling and loss of birefringence, along with leaching out of soluble portions of the starch. The aqueous mixture increases greatly in viscosity and, upon cooling, sets to a gelatinous structure having an organoleptically-acceptable firm yet smooth, creamy texture.
To accommodate consumer demand for convenience products, food processors developed compositions which are now commonly referred to as instant puddings. In these products, a packaged sugar and starch containing dry mix is provided which can be hydrated by the consumer with milk without need for cooking, and then refrigerated to produce a set or gelled pudding. In order to provide the viscous and smooth texture found in the counterpart traditional cooked-starch puddings, these instant pudding mixes generally contain starch in pregelatinized form, i.e., a form which provides thickening upon hydration without need for cooking. To provide the gelled or set texture achieved in the traditional cooked product, the art has generally relied upon phosphate gelling agents which act by coagulating milk proteins (provided in the mix or through use of milk as the hydrating medium). See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,607,692 to Kennedy, et al.; 2,801,924 to Clausi; 2,829,978 to Castagna, et al.; and 2,927,861 to Charie, et al. In the years since original development of instant pudding mixes, considerable formula optimization and refinement has been undertaken such that the pudding products made therefrom now are considered by consumers to provide textural and eating characteristics which are good approximations of the characteristics of traditional cooked-starch puddings.
In recent years, sugar-free instant pudding mixes have been developed and made commercially available. These mixes have had good consumer acceptance because the puddings made from these mixes have a texture, sweetness and overall flavor impact, which is perceived as comparable to puddings made from sugar-containing instant pudding mixes. U.S. Pat. No. 4,663,177 to Weaver, et al. discloses examples of sugar-free, instant pudding mixes and recites some of the difficulties in eliminating sugar from the traditional instant puddings mixes.
A more recent trend in consumer preference is for products which are both sugar-free and fat-free. Commercially-available instant pudding mixes have heretofore required hydration with whole milk, or at least 2% fat milk, to produce puddings with good texture, flavor and mouthfeel. Prior commercial, instant pudding mixes could not produce quality pudding with skim milk. The absence of fat from the final pudding usually provided by conventional whole or reduced fat milk has significant adverse effect on the desired setting and textural characteristics of the pudding.